ferd Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Does anyone know if you can replace the rather high seat swivels with lower ones? MK7 Transit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Dont think so, but may be wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 On our Autosleeper Duetto the passenger seat swivels and the driver's does not; both are the same height. Possibly you could investigate this and see if the arrangement would suit your (unstated) van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I don't think there's a lower one available. We realised we never swivel the driver's seat on our Cavarno - only the passenger one - so I've taken the swivel out (stored for restoring of course), and it has improved the driving position. Having said that though, I'd already driven over 45000 miles on the swivel seat with no problems, so the difference is marginal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Both of mine swivel, when I first had it I looked at removing the swivel arrangement and this would have gained maybe 1" to 1.5". To do it you need all the standard bits from Ford and it's not cheap. My advice is to stick with it for a few months, you will get used to it, I have, now when I drive it I don't notice any difference to my car. Indeed I find the driving position quite comfortable. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neillking Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 It's normal to turn the problem on its head - obtain lower seat boxes or modify the existing ones. I'm no expert on all the different vehicles but some vehicle manufacturers do offer short boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsticks Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 On our Mk7 Duetto, even if the furnishings would allow, it is not possible to fit a seat swivel to the drivers seat as the centrally fitted handbrake lever would prevent rotation of the seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Hi ferd, I've just had a look on the Marcle Leisure website and they only list a passenger swivel and that is 30mm in height. They must have their reasons for not offering a drivers swivel. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neillking Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Most/many (all?) later Transit have a problem with the handbrake and swivels. Again look at it another way - move the handbrake. I'm not inventing mad ideas here, customers do lower seat boxes and move handbrakes! You may have problems getting a main agent to move a handbrake but there are independents who will do this if cut & weld isn't your thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 There has been some fairly recent discussion around this subject and the issue of the handbrake. You may find the following of interest: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=24646&posts=18 http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=24240&posts=9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 On mine, you had to take the handbrake off to swivel the driving seat, but I gather more recent Transits have the handbrake on the RHS - does that help? Horizons were very helpful aobut the necessary bits to put the seat back to "Ford" height - but as I said above, the difference was marginal. Unless you're quitre sure you don't need the swivel, just get used to the height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 ferd - 2011-12-12 4:02 PM Does anyone know if you can replace the rather high seat swivels with lower ones? MK7 Transit MMM January 2012 (Page 129 "Cockpit" paragraph) refers to the Transit Mk-7-based Tribute T-725 motorhome being reviewed having "the new lower seat swivels". It has been possible in the past to obtain a lower seat-squab height by replacing the standard Transit seat with a different make (Hobby offered an Aguti seat as an option, but Isri seats were also used) but this was expensive. It was also claimed that the swivel mechanism chosen by Hymer for their Transit-based models was less deep than the swivels fitted by other manufacturers. I note that the Tribute photos show cab-seats with twin arm-rests, rather than the single arm-rest seats that had previously been used, so there is the possibility that the Tribute's lower seat-squab height is due to a combination of a shallower swivel-mechanism and a modified seat design. I sat in a couple of 2012 Transit-based motorhomes in October and thought that the (swivelling) driver's seat-squab height was lower than my Hobby's had been before I removed the swivel. Still too high for my liking, but possibly tolerable rather than (for me) decidedly unsafe. To the best of my knowledge - and I researched this in some depth in 2005 when I was planning to buy a Transit-based motorhome - no lower seat box is commercially available. The Mk 6/7 seat-box is a complex piece of metalwork and would not be easy to reproduce in a lower height even if there were sufficient demand to make it commercially worthwhile (which is very doubtful). I guess a competent metal fabricator could build a one-off lower seat-box (or modify the standard one), but the safety aspect of doing this would need to be consiidered. Removing the swivel-mechanism should be uncontroversial as it's basically just the ham in a ham sandwich. Unbolt the swivel-mechanism from the seat-box, unbolt the seat from the swivel-mechanism, then bolt the seat to the seat-box. I guess an extra bolt or two might be required, but I don't recall any extra bits being needed when I removed my Hobby's swivel-mechanism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 My advice is to stick with it for a few months, you will get used to it, I have, now when I drive it I don't notice any difference to my car. Indeed I find the driving position quite comfortable. H I too find mine very very comfortable much better than any car I have driven, sopse it depends on your build though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 ferd - 2011-12-12 4:02 PM Does anyone know if you can replace the rather high seat swivels with lower ones? MK7 Transit An alternative you might find acceptable, is to look for doormat by the yard from (usually) a carpet shop. This is PVC or similar backed coconut fibre matting designed to cut to shape. This will cut and fit to the footwells and, being about 3/4 inch thick, effectively raises the floor. If properly shaped, it stays flat and in place, and does not ruck under the pedals. It also helps to control the spread of all those bits that get traipsed into the front. Works for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Looking at the seat swivels in our transit there is not much you could alter to reduce the height. But like a few others have commented on.I am a six footer and i love the higher driving position. the only issue is the sun visors which obliterate the view if they are fully down You will get used to it i'm sure. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Tony Jones - 2011-12-12 10:48 PM On mine, you had to take the handbrake off to swivel the driving seat, but I gather more recent Transits have the handbrake on the RHS - does that help? . Yes, mine has the handbrake on the right side and I can swivel the seat with it on. Just a cautionary note, the seatbelt mount is fixed to the seat, if you change anything you have to be 100% sure that the seatbelt strength is not compromised. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Quite right Geoff. I was specifically talking about restoring the original Ford set-up. Any other changes should be undertaken with caution! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferd Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Thanks for all the info. I have a Hobby Siesta with the handbrake already on the right, it was just that I thought I read somewhere that lower swivels were being fitted to newer motorhomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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